The UMR campus extends over a broad area in the northwest quadrant of the City of Rolla. In general, it is defined as an area bounded by 16th Street on the north, 10th Street on the south, Pine Street on the east and U.S. Highway 63 (Bishop Avenue) on the west. U.S. Highway 63 bisects the northern and western periphery, separating Thomas Jefferson residential hall complex, Nagogami married student housing, Residential College/Residential Hall, Bullman/Student Recreation and other athletic facilities. Other clusters of small support facilities lie north of Interstate 44.

Development of the campus began with the Board of Curators purchase of the Rolla Building in 1875. With the exception of the Chancellor’s Residence, built in 1889, subsequent buildings-including Norwood Hall, Parker Hall, Fulton Hall, Basic Engineering, and the Mechanical Engineering Annex-were constructed to the north and northwest of the Rolla Building, forming what today is the academic core of the campus and the north/south pedestrian mall through the quadrangle.

The campus has continued to envelop that early nucleus, with the greatest volume of construction occurring in nearly a perfect bell-shape form between 1930 and the present. During the 1960’s alone, 21 new buildings were constructed, nearly double the number of any decade preceding or following that 10 year period. In all, 32 buildings were constructed prior to 1960 and 54 have came on line since 1970. This includes residential life properties. Today, the campus is comprised of 110 buildings totaling in excess of two million square feet.

The lack of a master plan with which to shape the growth of more than three quarters of UMR’s current physical plant, illustrates at least one reason earlier master plans observed the campus as “fragmented”. It also underscores the need for serious and consistent attention to a plan that will help define and unite the present campus visually and functionally by establishing standards and guidelines for the future development, including the location and manner in which buildings are sited and designed for compatibility with the current character and culture of UMR.

The Landscape Master Plan was developed on the concept of providing the University with a comprehensive landscape plan to guide the campus. This plan not only provides the conceptual design criteria, but also the cost analysis of implementation and maintenance. This plan is designed to complement the existing and future architecture of the campus.

This plan also looked at the Residential Life properties since they are so vital to the student life on campus. Special emphasis was placed on residential halls to see where affordable planning and simple design changes could enhance the home-style feel of the halls for the students. It further addressed the streetscapes and entrances along with special attention to the existing parking lots to see how to reduce the harshness of these elements.

This master plan accomplished the overall desired effect in providing the campus with an “affordable” landscape that can be implemented as funding becomes available. This plan, we feel, will provide the campus with the consistency needed in our designs and implementations in the future.

The University of Missouri - Rolla continues to experience an increase in student enrollment, thereby raising the demand for additional student housing. This demand also requires an improvement in quality of housing on campus along with diverse options for various student cultures. In 2002, a consulting firm along with campus focus groups constructed a residential housing master plan that continues to be updated and implemented with additional new complexes and renovations of existing major facilities.

UMR Intercollegiate Athletics combines emphasis on striving for academic and athletic success to provide a “winning combination” for our student-athletes and the UMR campus. The intent of the master plan is to develop a document that will provide a comprehensive review of existing and future athletic and recreational facilities. This plan includes: Construction and operations, analysis of cost for construction of new facilities and renovations, cost for maintaining facilities, cost for programming (including personnel), coordination and access of facilities, planning for a seamless and efficient athletics and recreation facility plan to determine and meet the needs of the users, and an analysis of existing facilities and their infrastructure service and/or replacement life expectancies.

Parking lots provide the first impression of the University and can be considered the gateway to campus. While they are a transition space for most campus visitors, they are usually the first and last part of campus to be seen. This plan allows for proper standards to be established in design, landscaping, drainage, lighting, pedestrian pathways and maintenance. With guidance from this document, UMR has been able to develop campus parking lots that are pedestrian friendly and attractive, while experiencing a better return on initial capital investment through constructability.

The campus prepared a study of the utility infrastructure system. This document provides the guidelines for extensions and repairs of the system and coordinate those activities to the other campus master plans.